Page 92 of Riding the Waves

Burying her emotions, she moved outside and focused on setting the table until the conversation by the grill drew her attention. Anthony was exhorting the advantages of a gas barbecue to Damian, whose frown had softened dramatically. Rather than rolling his eyes while Anthony discussed the environmental impact of both coal and gas cooking, he looked quietly intrigued.

“It definitely heats up quicker,” Damian said, holding a hand above the grill plate.

“The heat is more even too,” Anthony told him.

Damian nodded appreciatively then talked about getting drinks and moved back inside.

“The boys really took to Christina,” Anthony said, once they were alone on the terrace.

“That’s good.” Pausing, in laying out cutlery she took another fortifying breath. It really was good that the boys liked Christina and Amy should definitely be happy about it.

“I tried to explain that she’s my girlfriend,” Anthony said. “I think they were pretty accepting of that, but it’s hard to know what’s going on in their heads, isn’t it?”

“Hmm.” She continued arranging cutlery and didn’t look up.

“You still haven’t talked to them about you and Damian?”

“No.” Her shoulders tensed. “Not yet.”

“Aren’t they confused about why he’s here? What do they think is going on between the two of you?”

“They think he’s here for a visit while things are quiet with his job. We wanted to wait until our plans were firmer with the house and everything, but we’ll tell them soon.” At least she hoped they would. She just needed Damian to get over whatever reservations he had about telling them.

“Are you okay?” Anthony asked gently, making her realise she’d stopped what she was doing again.

“Yes. House-hunting is frustrating, that’s all.”

“You didn’t see anything you liked?”

She gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Nothing I loved. Do you think I’m being fussy, wanting to wait and find somewhere that I love?”

“No.” His gaze drifted to the upstairs windows at the back of the house. “You can still stay here if you want. I know you think the mortgage would be too much for you, but we’d figure something out if that’s what you want.”

Amy tensed again. Partly because she definitely didn’t want to stay there, and partly because she found his offer to help a little condescending. “We’ll find somewhere,” she said tightly and in a tone that signalled she didn’t want to discuss it further.

Laughter drifted out from the kitchen and she went back in to find Damian popping the tops of beer bottles while grinning at Christina across the counter. He was always so at ease with people and Amy had never been more jealous of that particular trait as she was now.

He slid a beer over to Christina, then leaned his forearms on the counter and punctuated whatever he was saying with a series of sharp taps on the work surface as he continued smiling animatedly.

“Hey,” he said, straightening when he caught sight of Amy. “I was just telling Christina about me losing the boys yesterday while we played hide and seek.” He shook his head, but his amused expression remained. “I finally found them in the back of a cupboard playing on their iPads.” He tipped his head towards Christina. “So don’t be fooled by the boys being on their best behaviour for one day.”

He turned to Amy. “Beer?” he asked, holding one out to her.

She took it and drank a few gulps, while Damian went back outside to bring Anthony a beer.

Left alone with Christina, Amy took another swig of her beer while searching for conversation. After an awkward pause they both started to speak at once, but were also interrupted by Billy who ran in and pulled on Amy’s hand.

“Can I have mustard on my hot dog?” he asked cheerfully.

She squeezed his hand. “You don’t like mustard.”

“Christina said the best way to eat hot dogs is with mustard and ketchup.”

“Oh.” Amy shrugged. “You can try it if you want.”

Billy’s eyes darted to Christina. “Can I have a bite of your hotdog first to see if I like it?”

“Yes,” Christina said, while Amy simultaneously said “no.”

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